In this first of two articles we look at the top five regular season performers. We have a really nice crop this year, a mix of talent, hard work and potential. Paulius Jankunas, leading the group, represents the hard work of a potentially limited player. However, his incredible steadiness for a strong team such as Zalgiris places him at the top. Right after him is Marco Belinelli, whose scoring contribution has been simply amazing considering his youth. No player his age had led a competitive team such as Climamio Bologna in scoring in top European competition since Sani Becirovic (a super talented guard whose career was set back by injuries) did it with Olimpija Ljubljana in the 2000/01 season (playing alongside other promising youngsters such as Jiri Welsch, Beno Udrih and Primoz Brezec). Tiago Splitter has landed in the top 5 after an awesome comeback, showing in the second half of the regular season superb reliability and intensity that has made him a factor in a powerhouse such as Tau Vitoria. Meanwhile, Andrea Bargnani has become one of the best sixth men in the competition for another strong team like Benetton, always providing a serious scoring threat off the bench. Finally, Yotam Halperin has probably been the only clear team leader among these youngsters, although Olimpija Ljubljana certainly hasnt been a top act in this campaign.
Paulius JANKUNAS,
Zalgiris Kaunas; 1984; PF; 6-8; 25.5 mpg, 11.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.0 apg
by Almantas Kiveris
For those who follow Zalgiris Kaunas closely, Jankunass performance in the second part of regular season came as no surprise. You might ask how a young player who never shocks or surprises can be up at the top of the list. The answer is simple with solid and stable play every week for a strong team.
As we mentioned in our recap of the first half of the Regular Season, Jankunas had extra duties due to the injury sustained by starting center Tanoka Beard, which left Zalgiris frontline depleted. Having more space around the basket, Jankunas united with fellow Lithuanian Darjus Lavrinovic to become a dynamic homegrown duo that was very hard for opposing teams to stop. Their passing on offense and tacit understanding of each other on defense allowed the pair to be very effective down low.
However with Beard back days before the New Year and striving for the leadership role again, Jankunas had to resort back to coming of the bench as the 6th man, but with just as much importance for his team. Pauliuss minutes went down from 29.4 to 21.5 with Beard in the lineup, but his production didnt decline relative to his playing time. Averaging 13.3 points and 7.1 rebounds in the first seven games, the 21 year old power forward settled for 10.1 and 6.6 respectively after that. What didnt lessen on the court despite the smaller minutes was Jankunass attitude and hard work on both ends. Setting screens and fighting for offensive rebounds, Paulius also at times found himself scoring points in stretches when it was needed the most, though it was obvious that he received fewer touches than in the first half of the season. Defensively Jankunas is capable of staying with his man and doesnt suffer from the lack of an inch or two playing in the Euroleague.
A successful and solid season at the highest level of play in Europe might improve Jankunas chances of hearing his name called at the end of the second round, but the same reasons (lacking a few inches combined with being fairly limited athletically) we mentioned in the first recap of the season can be an obstacle that is hard to bypass for him if he considers the NBA strongly. At this time it doesnt seem like the NBA is his early goal, but the track of having a great European career looks promising for Jankunas.